GetaDoc Privacy Policy

GetaDoc understands how important the privacy of personal information is to our users. This Privacy Policy will tell you what information we collect about you and your use of GetaDoc and its services. It will explain your choices about how your personal information is used and how we protect that information. We urge you to read this Privacy Policy carefully.

This Privacy Policy applies to websites owned and operated by GetaDoc that are intended for use by consumers (non-professionals) for non-commercial personal, family or household purposes, including GetaDoc.co.za, and the mobile-optimized versions of these sites and our Mobile Device Applications or “Apps” (we refer to these sites and Apps collectively as the “GetaDoc Sites”). We refer to the GetaDoc Sites and Apps and the information and services made available to you through the GetaDoc Sites and Apps as the “Services.”.

Except where noted, this Privacy Policy with respect to the GetaDoc Sites also apply to the Apps. If you do not want us to collect, use or disclose information about you and your use of the Services as described in this Privacy Policy, then you should not use the Services. By using the Services, you must agree to the GetaDoc Terms of Use, which is the contract between us and users of the Services.  By accepting the GetaDoc Terms of Use, you confirm that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy and the GetaDoc Cookie Policy. You acknowledge that we will store, use and otherwise process your information in South Africa, where we are located.

References to “GetaDoc,” “we”, or “us” mean GetaDoc Pty., including any company that GetaDoc Pty. controls (for example, a subsidiary that GetaDoc Pty. owns). GetaDoc may share information among its subsidiaries or websites that it owns or controls. Still, the information collected under this Privacy Policy is always protected under the terms of this Privacy Policy. Except as otherwise noted in this Privacy Policy, GetaDoc Pty. is the data controller responsible for the processing of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. 

Information Collected About You

Some of our Services (such as specific quizzes or calculators) do not retain your personal information. Even if you do not register with or provide any personal information to GetaDoc, we collect information about your use of the GetaDoc Sites Apps and Services. We may also acquire information about our users from external sources.

When you use the Services, we collect information as follows:

Registration

While you may use most of the Services without registering, certain Services do require that you register with GetaDoc for them to function correctly. If you choose to register or update an existing account with GetaDoc or access certain Services, you may be required to provide certain personal information, such as your name, address, telephone number, gender, email address and date of birth, and a username and password to access your GetaDoc account. You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the personal information you submit to GetaDoc.

Interactive Services

Some of our Services are interactive and may request that you submit health-related information, along with other information such as your age and gender. 

Email Newsletters

At registration and at various times as you use the GetaDoc Sites, you will be given the option of providing us with personal information in order to receive informational/promotional newsletters – such as a newsletter relating to a specific health condition – via email from GetaDoc and/or directly from third parties. From time to time GetaDoc may offer users of third party websites the opportunity to subscribe to our newsletters through those websites. If you elect to subscribe to one of our newsletters on a third party website, the operator of that website will provide us with the personal information you have provided in connection with the subscription request, which we may use in accordance with this Privacy Policy as though you had provided it directly to GetaDoc. 

Market Research

From time to time, GetaDoc may conduct online research surveys on behalf of itself and third parties through email invitations, pop-up surveys and online focus groups. When participating in a survey, we may require you to provide your location, age and if there are sweepstakes associated with the market research survey, your name and contact information for purposes of sweepstakes administration. The information you submit in a survey may be used by GetaDoc for research and measurement purposes, as described below, including to measure the effectiveness of content, advertising or programs. The personal information you provide in connection with a sweepstakes entry will be used for the sole purpose of administering the sweepstakes and as required by applicable law. We will not knowingly invite individuals who are under the age of 13 to participate in market research surveys. Market research surveys conducted by or on behalf of GetaDoc will contain a link to this Privacy Policy.

User Reviews and Other Public Forums

In connection with the use of our Physician Directory, users are able to submit provider reviews. Our reviews feature in the Physician Directory and are open to the public and should not be considered private.

Any information (including personal information) you share in any review, or other forum is by design open to the public and is not private. You should think carefully before posting any personal information in any public forum. What you post can be seen, disclosed to or collected by third parties and may be used by others in ways we cannot control or predict, including to contact you for unauthorized purposes. As with any public forum on any site, the information you post may also show up in third-party search engines.

Emails You Send to GetaDoc

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information, content, business information, ideas, concepts or inventions that you send to GetaDoc by email. If you want to keep content or business information, ideas, concepts or inventions private or proprietary, do not send them in an email to GetaDoc.

Services and Device Information

When you access and use the Services, GetaDoc automatically collects and stores in its server logs information from your browser or mobile device such as your IP address or unique device identifier, browser information (including referring URL), your preferences and settings, cookies and information about the content you have viewed and actions taken (e.g., search queries, ad engagement, clicks and the associated dates and times). GetaDoc may also collect device-specific information when you install and use an App including your device model, operating system information, advertising ID (which is a unique, user-resettable identification number for advertising associated with a mobile device) and App version and usage information. When enabled by you, we collect precise location information provided by your mobile device, which you may disable through the device settings.

Precise Geolocation Data

When enabled by you, we collect precise location information provided by your mobile device, such as latitude and longitude. We do so to provide you more relevant content including advertising based on your location. You may disable the collection and use of your location data through your device settings. To change location settings on your device, please refer to your device’s official knowledge base.

Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

We and our partners use cookies to collect information about your use of the Services. “Cookies” are small data files assigned to your browser when you visit a GetaDoc Site which enable recognition of your browser and collect and store information about your use of the Services, as described above. In addition to cookies, we and our partners use other tracking technologies that collect information about your use of the Services, including mobile identifiers and “web beacons” which are small graphic files (sometimes called “clear GIFs” or “web pixels”) embedded in a web page or email typically used to monitor activity and send relevant information back to a home server (which can belong to the host site, a network advertiser or some other third party). The information collected by such tracking technologies may be combined with other information that our partners have access to, including your name, email address and physical address, so that we can send you materials, either electronically or by direct mail, that may be of interest to you. 

Our advertising service partners may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect information about your use of the GetaDoc Sites, including content you have viewed. These third parties may use this information to help GetaDoc deliver advertising on the GetaDoc Sites and on other third party websites based on your browsing activity on the GetaDoc Sites. GetaDoc may further tailor the advertising on the GetaDoc Sites and these other third party websites based on additional information to the extent known by GetaDoc or these third parties. Two of the third parties that GetaDoc works with are Google and Facebook. In addition to using the information it collects performing services for GetaDoc, Google may also use such information as described in its privacy policy. To see how Google may use information collected through our use of the Google services on the GetaDoc Sites visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners.  While Facebook does not provide any personal information to GetaDoc, Facebook may use information that it has about you and that it collects performing services for GetaDoc (which may be associated with personal information that Facebook has about you) as described in its privacy policy available at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

To provide you with certain personalization and advertising services described herein, when you use our GetaDoc Sites, we may share information that we may collect from you, such as your email address (in hashed form), IP address or information about your browser or operating system.

We also work with third party ad networks to display advertising on our GetaDoc Sites and on third party websites. Our ad network vendors use technologies to collect information about your activities on the GetaDoc Sites and in our flagship GetaDoc App to provide you cookie-based targeted advertising on our GetaDoc Sites and on third party websites based upon your browsing activity and your interests.

For more information about how our cookies and other tracking technologies are used in connection with the Services, please read our Cookie Policy.

When you download and install one of our Apps onto your mobile device we assign a random number to your App installation. This number cannot be used to identify you personally, and we cannot identify you personally unless you choose to become a registered user of the App. We use this random number in a manner similar to our use of cookies as described in this Privacy Policy and in our Cookie Policy. Unlike cookies, the random number is assigned to your installation of the App itself and not a browser, because the App does not work through your browser. Therefore the random number cannot be removed through settings. If you do not want us to use the random number for the purposes for which we use cookies, please do not use the Apps. Our use of cookies and other tracking technologies on our mobile optimized sites and our flagship GetaDoc App are similar to our use on our desktop sites. For your choices to reject cookies the opt-out mechanism described below in the section “Your Choices and Rights” are available on our flagship GetaDoc App and on our mobile optimized sites.

Cross-Device Tracking

We and our service providers collect and store information about users’ interactions with unaffiliated websites and applications that use our technologies, including cookies and similar tracking technologies. This allows us to infer the presence of a common user or household behind multiple devices. We do so in order to:

• provide personalized advertising on each device that is inferred from the browsing patterns on all of the devices;
• detect and prevent fraud;
• allow users to use our service on one device and pick up seamlessly where they left off on another device; 
• limit the number of times a user is shown the same advertisement, across known or inferred devices

For information on your advertising choices and opt-out, please see the “Your Choices and Rights” section of this Privacy Notice.

How Information Collected About You Is Used

Information about your use of the Services may be used for the following purposes:

• to provide, improve and create new Services,
• to respond to your inquiries and to send you administrative communications about the GetaDoc Sites and Services,
• to obtain your feedback about the GetaDoc Sites and Services,
• to send you secure electronic messages and personalized emails pertaining to your interests as inferred from your use of the Services, including news, announcements, reminders and opportunities from GetaDoc,
• to statistically analyze trends and user behavior and activity including how frequently areas of the GetaDoc Sites are visited, how the Services are being used and how many emails are received and opened,
• to provide you and people with similar demographic characteristics and interests with more relevant content including advertising both on and off the GetaDoc Sites and Apps,
• to offer lead generation services,
• to detect and defend against fraud and other threats to the Services and our users, 
• to identify issues with the Services,
• to conduct research and measurement activities, including those described below, and
• to administer your account.

In addition, GetaDoc may use personal information about you for other purposes that are disclosed to you at the time we collect the information and/or with your consent.

GetaDoc may combine your personal information and other information collected about your use of the Services, and also supplement with information from external sources for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. For example, information that GetaDoc collects about you may be combined by GetaDoc with other information available to GetaDoc through third parties for research and measurement purposes, including measuring the effectiveness of content, advertising or programs. This information from other sources may include age, gender, demographic, geographic, personal interests, product purchase activity or other information. We may report aggregate information, which is not able to be identified back to an individual user of the GetaDoc Sites, to our current or prospective advertisers and other business partners.

Sharing Your Information

GetaDoc Subsidiaries and Corporate Affiliates

We may share your information with our subsidiaries, affiliates and companies acquired by or merged with us and our affiliates for their use for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy. In the event of a corporate change in control resulting from, for example, a sale to, or merger with, another entity, or in the event of a sale of assets or a bankruptcy, GetaDoc reserves the right to transfer your personal information to the new party in control or the party acquiring assets. In the event of such a change, your personal information will continue to be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy unless any changes to the Privacy Policy are made in accordance with the section below that discusses “Changes to This Privacy Policy.”

Companies and Contractors that Work with GetaDoc

GetaDoc works with third-party companies and contractors that help us provide the Services and otherwise assist in the operation of the GetaDoc Sites and Apps, including those that provide services relating to technology, data analysis, research, email management and deployment, sweepstakes and contest administration, advertising and marketing and/or content. If you are in South Africa, we may also partner with certain service providers to better understand your experience on the GetaDoc Sites, including technology that enables us to review and optimize the Services based on your interactions with certain pages (e.g., how much time you spend on which pages, which links you choose to click, what you do and don’t like, etc.) in an aggregated format. GetaDoc contractors sometimes have limited access to your information in the course of providing products or services to GetaDoc. We contractually require that our contractors not use or disclose your information for any purpose other than providing the limited service or function for GetaDoc.

Third-Party Advertisers and Third Party Websites

We may share information that we have about you, such as a cookie ID or IP address, with third-party advertising service providers who may use this information on our behalf to help GetaDoc deliver advertising on the GetaDoc Sites as well as on third party websites, as further described in our Cookie Policy.

Certain content, services and advertisements offered to you through the GetaDoc Sites are served on or contain links to websites hosted and operated by a company other than GetaDoc (“Third Party Websites”). GetaDoc does not share your personal information with these Third Party Websites without your consent, but you should be aware that any information you disclose to these Third Party Websites once you access these Third Party Websites is not subject to this Privacy Policy. GetaDoc does not endorse and is not responsible for the privacy practices of these Third Party Websites. You should review the privacy policy posted on the Third Party Website to understand how that Third Party Website collects and uses your information. GetaDoc makes an effort to make it obvious to you when you leave a GetaDoc Site and enter a Third Party Website, either by requiring you to click on a link or by notifying you on the GetaDoc Site before you visit the third-party site. In addition, if you see a phrase such as “Powered by” or “in association with” followed by the name of a company other than GetaDoc, then you are on a website hosted by a company other than GetaDoc.  When you use a co-branded service (a service operated with a partner of GetaDoc) or register or otherwise provide information on a co-branded site, where applicable, we may pass the collected information back to that partner, which may include third-party service providers whose services are embedded into and/or appear within the Services.

We may also include social widgets on the GetaDoc Sites, which enable you to interact with the associated social media services, e.g., to share an article. These widgets may collect browsing data which may be received by the third party that provided the widget and are controlled by these third parties. You may be able to manage your privacy preferences directly with the applicable social network platform.

Compliance with Law, Regulation, and Law Enforcement Requests

To cooperate with government authorities and law enforcement officials, and private parties to enforce and comply with law, we may release personal information to third parties: (1) to comply with legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order; (2) when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request; or (3) in special cases, such as in response to a physical threat to you or others, to protect property or defend or assert legal rights. In addition, we may disclose personal information as described below.

How Your Information is Secured and Retained

We take reasonable security measures to protect the security of your personal information. Despite GetaDoc’s efforts to protect your personal information, there is always some risk that an unauthorized third party may find a way around our security systems or that transmissions of your information over the Internet may be intercepted.

The security of your personal information is important to us.  When you enter personal information (including personal health information in various Services), we encrypt the transmission of that information or use SSL connections (Secure Socket Layer) technology.

We will retain your personal information as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with Services. At any time, you can remove your personal information or instruct us to remove it, but you should be aware that it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information you have provided to GetaDoc from our servers. See “Your Choices and Rights” below for more information on how you can update or remove your personal information. We will also retain your personal information as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Your Choices and Rights

Updating/Removing Your Personal Information

If you do not want your personal information used by GetaDoc as provided in this Privacy Policy, you should not use the GetaDoc Sites, Apps and Services.  You can correct, update or review the personal information you have previously submitted by going back to the specific Service, logging in and making the desired change. You can also request access, correction, or deletion of personal information by contacting us using the contact information listed below or through the Contact Us link provided at the bottom of every page of the GetaDoc Sites.

If you have registered and desire to delete any of the registration information you have provided to us from our systems, please contact us using the contact information listed below in the “Contacting GetaDoc About Your Personal Information or Privacy” section or through the Contact Us link provided at the bottom of every page of the GetaDoc Sites. Upon your request, we will delete your registration information from our active databases and, where feasible, from our backup media. You should be aware that it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information you have provided to the GetaDoc Sites from our servers.

You can unsubscribe from an email newsletter by:

• Following the directions included at the bottom of the newsletter and using the “Unsubscribe” link found in the emails.
• Logging in to the GetaDoc Sites and unchecking the newsletters you no longer wish to receive under the “My Profile” section.

All promotional emails that GetaDoc sends with opportunities from GetaDoc or with offers or informational materials from GetaDoc on behalf of our sponsors will contain an opportunity to unsubscribe from getting additional emails of that type in the future from GetaDoc unless you re-subscribe.

Cookies

Most browser software can be set to reject Cookies. Most browsers offer instructions on how to reset the browser to reject Cookies in the “Help” “Settings”, or “Preferences” section of your browser’s toolbar.  Refer to our  Cookie Policy for additional information about opting out of Cookies.

Interest-Based Advertising Opt-Out

In order to give you more control over your privacy choices, we have implemented a DAA (Digital Advertising Alliance) approved opt-out mechanism for interest-based advertising. At the bottom of every page of the GetaDoc Sites, you will see an AdChoices logo (which looks like this:

In our flagship GetaDoc App, you can find the AdChoices option in the “Settings” screen.  By clicking on that logo on the GetaDoc Sites or following the instructions in the flagship GetaDoc App, you will be presented with a window that will identify all of the companies that GetaDoc uses to direct tailored advertisements to you, both on the GetaDoc Sites and in the flagship GetaDoc App as well as on third-party websites. If you would like to stop this tailored advertising from GetaDoc, you can manage these advertisements through the choices in that window. Please note that even if you opt out of interest-based advertising, you will continue to receive generic advertisements through the Services. Please note that your choice to stop tailored advertising is specific to the browser or mobile device that you are using, so if you make a choice to opt out from one computer or mobile device and you want your opt-out to apply to a different computer or mobile device as well, please opt-out from that computer or mobile device too. By clicking the + symbol next to the name of a vendor in that window, you will get information about how and where that vendor assists us with the delivery of advertisements. The GetaDoc Sites do not respond to web browser “do not track” signals. 

You may also control interest-based advertising on your mobile device by enabling the “Limit Ad Tracking” setting in your iOS device’s settings or “Opt out of Ads Personalization” in your Android device’s settings. This will not prevent you from seeing advertisements but will limit the use of device advertising identifiers to personalize ads based on your interests.  If you have questions about how to reject cookies on your specific device, please check with the device manufacturer.

SA Residents

If you are a resident of a SA  with applicable data privacy laws in effect, such laws may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your personal information. 

Children

We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. The GetaDoc Sites are not designed or intended to attract children under the age of 13. The GetaDoc Sites do not collect personal information from any person we actually know is under the age of 13. A parent or guardian, however, may use GetaDoc to establish a personal health record. The parent or guardian is solely responsible for providing supervision of the minor’s use of GetaDoc. The parent or guardian assumes full responsibility for ensuring that the registration information is kept secure and that the information submitted is accurate. The parent or guardian also assumes full responsibility for the interpretation and use of any information or suggestions provided through GetaDoc for the minor.

Note to Users Outside of South Africa

GetaDoc and our technical infrastructure are located in South Africa.  The personal information that you provide to us is stored on servers located in South Africa. If you are located in another jurisdiction, you should be aware that in order to provide the Services to you, we must transfer your personal information to South Africa, where it will be stored and processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may transfer your information outside South Africa to service providers with operations in other countries. By using the Services, you consent to such collection, storage and processing in South Africa and elsewhere, though South Africa and other jurisdictions may not afford the same level of data protection as considered adequate in your own country. We will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information. Note that your personal information may be available to the South African government or its agencies under a legal process made in South Africa.

Additional Information for GetaDoc’s Visitors from the European Economic Area (“EEA”)

When you use the Services, we collect, store, use and otherwise process your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. We rely on a number of legal bases to process your information, including where: (i) necessary for our legitimate interests in providing and improving the Services including offering you content and advertising that may be of interest to you; (ii) necessary for our legitimate interest in keeping the Services, Sites and Apps safe and secure; (iii) necessary for the legitimate interests of our service providers and partners; (iv) necessary to perform our contractual obligations in the GetaDoc Terms of Use; (v) you have consented to the processing, which you can revoke at any time (however a revocation does not affect the lawfulness of processing of your personal data that occurred prior to the date of revocation); (vi) you have expressly made the information public, e.g., in public forums; (vii) necessary to comply with a legal obligation such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order or to exercise or defend legal claims; and (viii) necessary to protect your vital interests, or those of others.

If you are a GetaDoc user in the EEA, you can: (i) access personal information we have about you (we will try to provide information within 30 days of your request); (ii) have your personal information corrected or deleted (in most cases you can correct the personal information you have submitted to us by going back to the specific Service, logging-in and making the desired change); (iii) in certain circumstances, you can object to our processing of your personal information, and we will discontinue such processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue; (iv) withdraw consent previously provided (however a withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing of your personal data that occurred prior to the date of withdrawal); or (v) if you believe that we have not complied with applicable data protection laws, you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. If you wish to inquire as to whether we maintain any of your personal information and, if so, whether you wish to exercise any of those rights that are available to you with respect to such personal information, you may contact us as described in the Contacting GetaDoc About Your Personal Information or Privacy section below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

Where we process your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you can opt-out through the unsubscribe link in the email communications we send to you by changing your subscription preferences in your account settings or as otherwise specified in this Privacy Policy.

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services to you and fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. This is also the case for third parties with whom we share your information to perform services on our behalf.  When we no longer need to use your personal information, and there is no need for us to keep it to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations, we will either remove it from our systems or anonymize it.  If you have registered with GetaDoc and you no longer want us to use your registration information to provide the Services to you, you may close your account.

Contacting GetaDoc About Your Personal Information or Privacy

Please send us an email by using the <Contact Us> link at the bottom of every page of the GetaDoc Sites if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the personal information we maintain about you. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

You can also contact GetaDoc’s Privacy Office at:

GetaDoc Pty.
Unit B, Greenford Office Estate, 

Punters Way, Kenilworth, 

Cape Town, 7708

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change or modify this Privacy Policy and any of our Services at any time, and any changes will be effective upon being posted unless we advise otherwise. If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by means of a notice on the GetaDoc Sites and/or by email to our registered users (sent to the email address specified when you register) prior to the change becoming effective. By continuing to use the Services after changes are made to this Privacy Policy, you agree to such changes.  We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy for the latest information on our privacy practices. If you do not accept the terms of this Privacy Policy, we ask that you do not register with us and that you do not use the GetaDoc Sites. Please exit the GetaDoc Sites immediately if you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.